Wednesday, 22 March 2017

Regal-class Skyship

Talked a fair bit about Skyships, but haven't really said much beyond how they work. Thus far I've posted about the Bayleaf freighter and the B-class frigate, this week I'll be posting another Skyship in the form of the Regal-class light cruiser (which has been mentioned previously).Regal-class Light Cruiser

CAS Viceroy on a rare visit to the Alyeskan skies.

The Regal-class was commissioned roughly halfway through the Great Darmonican War, designed as the Commonwealth's answer to enemy commerce raiders and incorporating technological advances made earlier in the conflict. One of the features the class was notable for was the use of oil-fired engines rather than coal-fired ones, making them one of the first Commonwealth Skyships to do so. The lead ship of the class, CAS Regal, was the first to begin construction but suffered damage during an enemy raid that delayed her launching and allowed her sister ship CAS Viceroy to be launched first.

For much of their wartime career, the Regal-class Skyships were employed on extended patrols over the waters of the Commonwealth's Home Isles. Though they were also used as convoy escorts and occasionally raids on enemy targets, CAS Sovereign was lost in a raid upon a Sodkan Lift Gas refinery. Probably the most noteworthy action of the Regal-class was the Second Battle of Lindun when the Skyships Archduke, Marquis, Regal, Regent, Viceroy and Viscount directly engaged enemy bomber streams by firing flak from their main guns.

Post-War they have continued their patrol duties, this time against sky pirates who lack the means to take on a Skyship.